Do you ever wonder about the purpose of life? Why are you here? What would you like to accomplish in this lifetime? Dr. Wayne Dyer, in his book, Real Magic (ISBN: 0-06-109150-2) points out that our personal evolution occurs in three stages. In the first stage, which he calls “enlightenment through suffering”, you feel like a victim. You believe that only through suffering can you achieve. At this stage you feel almost completely powerless. The realities that manifest at this stage are reflections of a mind that feels limited in its scope and power: fears and default beliefs are dominant forces. Dyer notes that some people stay at this stage their whole lives.
Dyer calls the second stage “enlightenment through outcome.” This is the stage of the achiever. This is the person who can maintain enough attention and effort on goals to conceive and achieve them. This is the realm of beings we identify as “successful.” People at this stage feel that if they only work hard enough, then they can achieve their goals. It is a high state of being compared to the first stage. Having surpassed victimhood, you master the art of having exactly what you want. Some people stay at this stage their whole lives. However, this stage is not the pinnacle of human development. Dyer describes a third stage that most of us can only catch a glimpse of.

Dyer calls this third stage of being “enlightenment through purpose.” In this stage, you feel and know your life purpose and life becomes effortless and joyful. Guided by intuition, you experience magic and synchronicity in every day. The satisfaction of personal creature comforts seem relatively unimportant. You desire to serve humanity and your heart opens—life becomes effortless. In this third stage, life becomes larger than your own desires and fantasies. When you align your intention with the purpose of your life you operate from a higher “I” (“higher self”). This “I” is no longer attached to outcomes. From this perspective life is a game to be played deliberately.

You reach this stage when you assume the broader perspective of your higher self. You see the struggles of the world as a limited game that you choose not to play. You reach this stage when your natural response to the struggles of life is appreciation and understanding. In this stage, you see the world without judgment and in doing so feel completely free from its effects. You recognize that you exist apart from it—that you are an eternal spiritual being.

It seems to me that our next evolutionary step is the step beyond achieving to a life of service. For when each of us is serving, we begin to live as enlightened beings whose respect for each other and for all of life creates a civilization where suffering and intolerance no longer predominate.

Both Mother Teresa and Princess Diana showed us we can rise above personal concerns and give from our hearts. As we begin this season of giving, choose to experience the part of you that has a higher purpose. From that place, all the gifts of the universe are yours.